Machine for forming and finishing edges of lenses.



No. 69I,2|9. 4 Patented Ian. I47 |902.

J. WEST.

MACHINE FOR FOBMING AND FINISHING EDGES 0F LENSES.

, (Application led May 20. 1901.) (No Model.) 5`Sheets-Sheat I.

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MACHINE FOR FURMING AND FINISHING EDGESOF LENSES.

(N0 Model.)

No. 69|,2l9. Patented 1an. I4, |902.

J. WEST.

MACHINE FOR FOBMING AND FINISHING EDGES 0F LENSES.

[Application filed May 20, 19401.)

(No Model.)

5 Shests-Sheei 4.

fn: Ncmms mana co4, PNoTouHo.. WASHINGTON. u. c.

N0. 69|,2|9. Patented lan. I4, |902. J. WEST.

MACHINE FOR FOBMING AND FINISHING EDGES 0F LENSES.

(Application-filed May 20, 1901.)

5 vSheets--Sheet 5.

(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

JAMES \VEST, OF DALSTON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR OF 'lWO-THIRDS TO HENRY JOSEPH 'VILBERFORCE RAPHAEL, OF SHEPHERDS DBUSH, MIDDLESEX COUNTY, ENGLAND, AND HERMANN LIONEL ETTINGHAUSEN, OF LON- DoN, ENGLAND.

MACHINE FOR FORlVlING AND FINISHING EDGS OF LENSES.-A

SEEGEFCATEON forming part of Letters Patent N o. 691,219, dated January 14, 1902.

Application led May Z0, 1901. Serial No. 61,137. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES WEST, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at Dalston, in the county of Middlesex, England,

have invented a certain new and useful Machine for Forming and Finishing the Edges of Lenses, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in lo machines for shaping and beveling the edges of elliptical and other shaped lenses and glasses, such as are used for spectacles, Watchglasses, and the like; and it has for its object. to provide an expeditious and ready -means of shaping and beveling sueh'edges and of bringing about uniformity and precision in their sizes.

According to my present invention the elliptical-shaped lenses or glasses are shaped zo and beveled by being subjected to a rapid rotary motion within a fixed mold whose interior is approximately of a spheroidal form. The edges of the lenses or glasses are made to bear upon the said spheroidal surface of Jthe mold by centrifugal force while some suitable abrading or grinding material is fed in during the motion or beforehand until they are ground away to the shape of the position of the mold upon which they bear, more or 3o less as described in the specication of Letters Patent of the United States of America granted to me, No. 629,634.

The mold in which the grinding and beveling is done is made in two halves, each of whose interiors is recessed to a hemispheroidal form, more or less, in such a way that when they are brought together the said recesses exactly coincide with each other and form one spheroidal chamber, as described 4o and shown in the said former patent. In lieu, however, of the joint between these halves being at right angles to the axis of the mold, as therein shown, such joint having been found to leave an impression or fault upon the lenses operated on, the present invention provides a joint inclined or oblique to the axis in lieu of that described in the said former patent, and it also provides a spindle in the form of a bar supported upon centers 5o at each end. The holes in the said spindle in lieu of being round, as has hitherto been the case, are made of a peculiar shape to allow the legs or pins at the back of the dops greater freedom and immunity from jamming orseizing, due to the presence of particles of material used in grinding. The present invention also provides a rigid and accurate means of supporting, carrying, working, and controlling the mold in which the grinding is performed, and, lastly, the present invention 6o provides a precise means of determining the amount of grinding to be done to each ot' the lenses and of automatically arresting the action when the desired point has been reached, thereby secu ring great precision and uniformity in the sizes of the finished lenses.

The objects hereinbefore set forth are attained by the use of the mechanism shown in the accolnpanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a sectional View transversely 7c through the casing and through the housing of one of the spindles of a machine having eight sots of grinding apparatus, the operating mechanism being shown in elevation. Fig. 2 is a front view shown partly in section. 75 Fig. 3 is a plan of the machine. Fig. tshows in two sections and in front view a hollow grinding-mold with oblique joint. Fig. 5 shows in two sections and in front View a hollow grinding-mold with joint at right angles 8o to axis. Fig. 6 is a transverse section through the enlarged part of the spindle. Fig. 7 is a side view of the spindle with the cradles for the lenses. Fig. 8 is a transverse section of 'the same, showing the cradles for the lenses 85 in their places. Fig. 9 is a side view of the spindle Without the lens-cradles. Figs. lO and ll are transverse sections of the spindle withoutand with the lens-cradle,respectively.l Fig. 12 shows side and front views of the dops 9o to which the lens is fixed.

Similar letters of reference refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

ct a represent the hollow grinding-mold of the kind described in the said former specification made in two pieces ct a, which are firmly carried in cylindrical slides i) b', which allow the parts of the molds tobe brought together to close it, as shown in Fig. l, or to separate sufficiently to open it for the pur- Ico pose of inserting or removing the lenses and which are free to slide in the bored guides b2 b3, fitted in the box casting or base .e of the machine. a2 a3 are hemispheroidal recesses in the two halves of the mold. d4 d5 are axial openings through which passes the spindle or har c, which can be set in rapid motion by a pulley c at one end. This spindle is supported at each end upon centers c2 c3, carried in brackets g, bolted to the box-casting e', and i't is arranged to pass centrally through the mold and extend through the cylindrical guides.

The mouth of one half a of the mold is recessed into the mouth of the other half a' by means of the ring a6. The oblique joint of the mold is shown at as in Figs. 1, 3, and 4. I do not, however, limit myself to making the joint oblique, but may make it as shown in Fig. 5, wherein the joint is shown at right angles to the axis of the mold, but is 'broken by the tooth or studs of metal w' m2.

The central portion of the spindle or bar c is reinforced or enlarged and has three equidistant iiats formed upon the reinforcement, as shown in Figs. 6, 7, 8, and 9 at c4 c5 c6, and against each of these three Hats are fitted disks or cradles c" C8 c, Figs. 7 and 8, which carry the lenses which are to be ground. Each of these disks or cradles has firmly fixed to its back two parallel pins or bars or legs 010 c11 cl2, which pass freely through corresponding holes in the flat sides of the-spindle. The pins upon one of these disks are arranged at equal distances at each side of the center, and those upon the other two disks are arranged .nearer to the edge of the disk, so that the pins Figs. 7 and 8.

and the holes passing through the spindle may not interfere with each other, as indicated in Figs. 7 and 8. The outer ends of the pins C10 011 cl2 after passing through the spindle c are connected by a cross-bare13 c14 015, The pins or legs c10 c C12 may be made of plain steel or pinionsteel; but

yin any case the holes in the spindle in which they work are formed in the manner shown at o16 c17 cls, Figs. 9, 10, and 1l, which shape has been found to prevent most' effectually the particles of emery from obstructing their easy working.

The plates or dops on which the lenses are carried and by means of which they are at'- tached to the disks or cradles c7 cs o9 are shown ,in Fig. 12 at cli. The disks c7 e8 C9 have upon their outer surface a transverse dovetail- ,shaped guide 020, upon which fits freely a corresponding plate or "dop c19, provided with guides fitting upon the guide c2, so that it can move orslide freely upon the latter. The lens C21, Fig. 12, is xed by pitch or other strong cement upon the outer face of the plate or dop c1, and a similar plate or dop 019 is like wise cemented to the other or outerside of the lens 021, (bythe devices fully set forth and described in my concurrent application, Serial No. 61,136, filed May 20, 1901,) so that when the edge upon one side of the latter has been uid into the interior of the mold through the orifice a7 by means of a hand-squirt or a cylinder and plunger (notshown in the drawings) or by any other suitable means. Pins 022, Figs. 9 and 10, are studded into the flats on the spindle c or into the backs of the disks or cradles@7 o8 o9, so as to raise them slightly above the flat surfaces, and thus to prevent or destroy the suction or vacuum formed by the liquid used in grinding. During the process of grinding the lnold is kept rigidly closed, and it is opened and closed by means yof the toggle-link work and levers shown in Figs. 1 and 2, wherein d is a lixed shaft carrying the wrist-plate d', which is connected,by means of links d2,to the forked levers d3, whose forked ends are controllable in contact with the cylindrical slides b b'l -'lrhe lever-handles d4 are fixed to the wrist-plates` d and extend out throughthe casting or base 5t the machine and are intended to give .motion to saine from the outside of the box-casting z, which is slotted at z' to allow of the stroke of the handles. To the face of the wheel or pulley c' on the spindie c is fixed a scroll or spiral rib o23, which gears with a toothed wheel or pin-Wheel e,

f keyed to the shaft e,passing obliquely through and running in bearings e2 in the bracket c, supporting the centers c2 c2. At the opposite end of shaft e is a spiral pinion e3, gearing with aspiral spur-wheelf, keyed to au upright leading-screw f'. The lower end of the leading-screwf' is carried in footsteps f2 in the bracket f3, while its upper end is freely socketed into the bracket f4, fixed to the barframing h. The motion of the spindle c is thereby transmitted to the upright leadingscrew, which is intended to tally or count the revolutions and to act as a counting device and throw the grinding apparatus out of gear after a certain definite number of revolutions in thev following manner: An upright barguide j is fixed on each side of the upright leading-screw f', so as to be in alinelnent or parallel with the same, the upper and lower ends of each guide being socketed in the brackets f4 andf, respectively. Two wormwheels 'i' t, gearing into the opposite sides of the upright leading-screw f on spindles to which are keyed two V-wheels L2 723, are combined into and united with a metallic monkey i5, which is provided with two vbored guides i6 i7, embracing' the two upright barguidesj, the whole being arranged to travel up and down the guides through the action of the screw f. Two brake-blocks i222 lie upon the V-wheels 2713 and are pivotally fixed to the pins 10 in in the monkey 5. A wedge i12 is forcibly driven between the brake-blocks TIO GQLQl@ PZ, causing'them to jam upon the V-wheels l112 3, arresting their motion, likewise that of the worm-wheels, thereby locking the monkey to the leading-screw f". The wedge Z13 is attached to the trip 13 by means of the screw-stud t, and a spiral spring 7113 inserted between, so as to give the trip 1113 some range before withdrawing the wedge.

The trip 13 forms one arm of a three-armed piece pivoted at '16 to the monkey Its free end is shown caught and held by the claw 13. To another arm @'21 of this piece is attached the spiral spring 17, which hastens its action. The third arm 33 extends downward to make intermittent contact with the pawl s3. The claw '13 forms one arm .of a bell-crank lever pivoted at Z13 to the monkey i3 and is kept to its work by the spring 30. A

In the drawings the monkey is shown slightly raised above its lowest position and locked onto the leading-screw. If motion were imparted to the leading-screw, the nicnkey would now ascend.

'lo one of the upright bar-guidesj is clamped an adjustable wiperj, which may be set at any desired height and which is tted with a fine adjustment-screwf. As the monkey is carried upward by the continued motion of the leading-screw the trip-lever arm @'33 of the bell-crank pivoted at 13 is brought against the point of the ne adjustment-screw and tripped or released, whereupon the wedge @'13 is withdrawn leaving the V-wheels and wormwheels free to revolve, and the monkey rapidly descends. Conveniently arranged to receive the weight of the falling monkey is a device consisting of a pair of cross-heads k 7c3, united at some distance apart by two guide-sleeves 7c3 h4, which embrace the upright bar-guides and which are free to slide thereon. The lower cross-head k3 is provided with a projecting lug 7c3, which rests upon the head of an upright rod Z, supported in guides Z Z3, attached to the base-casting w3. The impact of the monkey is modified by two leather washers placed upon the upper cross-head k' at 7c3 k7 and is transmitted through the crosshead device just described to the rod Z, which rests upon one arm of a bell-crank lever m, pivoted at fm', the other arm being formed into a claw at m3 and controlled by a spiral spring m3. The impact ofthe falling monkey causes the claw m3 to release its hold of the trip n, forming one arm of a three-armed piece n n n3, which is keyed to one end of the shaft 0 at n3. The shaft o lies in the base .e2 of the machine in bearings at z3 ,54. Springlevers o o3 are keyed to the shaft o for the purpose of operating the combined wheels and friction-clutch, which may be of any of the well-known forms and designs, so that when the trip n is released the shaft o is pulled over through the medium of the leverarm u and the spring 'n4 and the clutch is thrown out of gear.

It will be understood that separate apparatus of the kind described is applied to each set of grinding apparatus contained in the machine.

Motion is led to the clutches p by the shaft q, lying in the base z3 and running in bearings ,e3 a, The shaft 0 is provided at one end, convenient to the operator, with a leverhandle 03, which is used for throwing the clutch p into gear. For this purpose the handle 03 is pulled over until the trip n comes into the claw m3, where it is left at rest until tripped by the monkey. The tension-rod r communicates with the bell-crank lever s, pivoted at s and provided with a pawl s3 at its upper end, which actuates the three-armed piece 13 531 1123, pivoted to the monkey at 16, and places its trip in the claw 13 when the monkey is down at rest.

The part of the friction-clutch p constituting the band-wheel p' is free upon the shaft q, so that when the clutch is thrown into gear with it by the springlevers o o2 upon the shaft 0 it is set in motion, which it transmits, through the medium of the band t, to the V- wheels c on the spindle c.

At Z7 in Figs. l and 3 is shown a gutter, which is formed in the box-casting z for the purpose of catching the oil and drainage from the grinding cup or mold.

A discharge-hole is made at z3, where the stuff is caught in any suitable Vessel placed in the base-casting z3.

Having fully described my invention, what I desire to claim and secure by Letters Patent is- 1. In a device of the character described, a mold formed of two members, one member having a recess, and the other member having a flange adapted to enter said recess, the line formed bythe meeting edges of the two members being oblique to a plane at right angles to the axis of the mold, substantially as described.

2. In a device of the character described, a mold formed of two members one member having a recess, and the other member having a flange adapted to enter said recess, the line formed by the meeting edges of the two members beingoblique to a plane at right angles to the axis of the mold, and means for clamping the two members together, substantially as described.

3. In combination with a mold in two halves, in which the grinding and beveling are done, a concentric spindle carrying the lenses and turning upon adjustable cone-bearings at its ends, the spindle being provided near one end with a pulley by which it is set in revolution, substantially as described and illustrated.

4. In a device of the character described, the combination of a spindle having transverse holes therethrough, through which the guides for the dops carrying the lenses pass, the said holes having interior ribs to prevent jamming, substantially as described.

5. The combination of the two parts a, a', of the grindingmold, cylindrical slides b, b', guides h3, b3, in the box-casting z of the ma- ICO IIC

chine, shaft CZ, Wrist-plate CZ', links (Z2, forked levers d3, whose forked ends fit upon the slides Z9, h, and lever-handles d1, passing through slots z' in the casting e', substantially as described and illustrated.

6. In combination with the grinding-mold a, a', slides b, b', guides Z22, b3, in the box-casting z of the machine, the central spindle o turning on adjustable centers c2, c3 and the driving-pulley o', substantially as described and illustrated.

'7. The spiral rib or scroll o23, pin-Wheel e, upon oblique shaft e running in bearing e2, spiral pinion c3 upon shaft e, gearing with spiral spur-Wheel f, upon bearingscrew f' turning in footstep f2 and bearing f1, guidebarsj, monkey @5 moving upon guide-bars j, worm-Wheels t', t", gearing with screw f', V*

Wheels @'2, @'Lbrake-blocks 71S, i, turning upon pins @$10, @211, in monkey @'5, Wedge 12, the brakeblocks @'S, @19, upon the V-wheels @'2, @3, trip-bar @'13 pivoted at i111 to monkey Z5, and carryingr the Wedge @'12, screw-stand 11, and spring @15 three-armed piece consisting of arm @'21 and spring @'17 arm @'13 held by bell-crank arm @'1S and arm @'22 pivoted at @'19 to monkey @'5, spring 20, adjustable Wiper j and adjusting-screw j, lever-arm @'23 forming' part of bell-crank arm 18, cross-heads 7a', 7a2, united by guidesleeves 7c3, 701, projecting lug Zr;5 on cross-head 7a2, upright rod Z and guides Z', Z2, washer Ztf,

757, bell-crank lever m' pivoted atm', clawarm m2, spring` m3, trip-arm Vn, upon shaft o turningr in bearings z3, 21, arm n', spring n4', and spring disengaging-levers upon the shaft o, disengaging friction-clutches upon the driving-shaft q of the machine, all substantially as and for the purpose described and illustraied.

S. In combination with the shaft o, the lever-handle -03 for throwing the friction-clutch p into gear, the rod fr, bell-crank lever Spivoted ats' and having pawl s2, and the arm Z22 operated by pawl s2, for bringing back the arm 1113 under the claw @'1s when the monkey has descended to its lowest position, substantiallyy as described and illustrated.

9. In a device of the character described, the combination With a spindle having transverse holes therethrough dops having guides passing through said holes, and interior ribs in said holes'to prevent jamming; of a mold formed in two members inclosing said spindle and means for clamping said members together, substantially as described.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two Witnesses.

JAMES VEST.

lVitnesses:

ALFRED T. BRATTON, H. ARTHUR MARSHALL. 

